Well the bass is in transit and should be here by the end of the week. A question if I may? All my instruments have the rectangular pickups, what are the pro's cons of having the staggered pickup arrangement as seen on this Elan against just the rectangular style of pickups?

Hmm, well my line of thinking is that the part of the string the pickup "sees" influences what we hear. Therefore since the E & A string pickups are nearer to the neck, when either the neck or bridge pickup setting was chosen, they would add a slightly more bassy component to the sound of the bass relative to straight bar pickups. Am i barking up the wrong tree here? Jazzyvee

because there are a lot of other factors influencing the sound, it's hard to answer your question without checking with other PUs on the same Bass. To me this Elan has a cleaner, more hifi like Sound than my MK for instance. My MK has two AXY soapbars and has got a bassier, dirtier sound than the Elan. But the wood is different, the neck has another shape, the headstock and body shape is different, etc. It's difficult to distiguish how much sound difference just results from the PUs by itself. All I can tell is that the Alembic P-Bass PU is totally different to a Fender P-Bass PU.

Jazzy; good point. If a pickup is moved forward or back it will sound different. And moving the position of the pickup doesn't just make the sound more or less bassy. The overall shape of the frequency curve changes. Go here to see a demonstration of this effect.

Hi Guys, the Elan arrived on Friday afternoon thanks for the fast postage Wernet. The action is a bit high for me and also i think the strings a little light so I may change them soon. but I'm going to make some changes to the neck and bridge to get the setup that suits my style of playing. Also I'm going to change the position of the filter and pickup selector pots as they are not in the same place as my Europa and the pickup selector switch seems back to front. Another member has advised me on how to change the pots round and pickup outputs to do this so I'm gonna do that in a bit. Once' I've done that I'll have a good blast on it and see how I feel about the sound. Through my P{JB briefcase it sounds fine. Seems a much hotter signal than my Eurropa at the moment.

The PU selector has worked the wrong way for me too. But since I haven't played it for at least a month I left it unchanged. If you like to change the output of the electronics you could tune it with the little pots inside. You can also adjust the volume balance of both PUs with them.

I've now swapped the filter and the pan pots round so they are in the "Usual place". and its much more natural to operate now. I also swapped the pickup connectors round so the pan from front to rear is the correct orientation. I've been playing it a lot yesterday and today and still need to make some more adjustments. The pj pickups have more output on the bass side than the treble side so I wonder if raising the height of the treble pair of pickups on the neck and bridge side will change the volume on that side so that I can balance them then adjust the overall gain inside with the trim pots.

Also the neck adjustment on the bass side has no more adjustment anti-clockwise although it does on the treble side. I was trying to add some concave neck relief to cure a buzz at the 1st four frets on the E-string. Would raising the nut do this?

I'm guessing ( hoping) that the lack of adjustment of the neck truss rod on the bass side may be due to the very light gauge strings 35,55,70,90 applying less tension on the neck.

In actual fact I plan to put some medium gauge: .045 - .065 - .080 - .105 strings on the bass soon as the sound needs a bit more meat and thats the gauge I prefer, giving me more string resistance when playing.

Other than that I'm still a happy bunny. I have first rehearsal with the band I've just joined Taz( Stereo Nation) this week so hopefully will be able to try the Elan out there.

Raising the treble side pickups should make them louder; it should also change the tone somewhat as well. I believe it is the case that the lower the pickups, the cleaner the sound. However, the difference in tone may not be appreciable.

The heavier strings should help cure the buzz problem.

Note that even though the truss rod nut is loose on the E string side, the nut on the G side still has an effect on the E side. So loosening the G side nut can help with an E buzz.

Go here and read what Joey says about when you should adjust the nut. Generally, if you have buzz when playing an open string, a nut adjustment may address that. But my guess is that your issue is not enough forward bow, which would be truss rod adjustment or higher tension strings.

I took the elan to rehearsal last night for the first time. The rehearsal room had an ampeg 4x10 and a 1x15 cab with an ashdown amp. I tried that for a bit but couldn't get a good sound out of the Ashdown.

So I tried it with my Mesa Walkabout which sounded really ok but not great,then later the ampeg rig started showing a bright light inside which I was a bit concerned about so the studio changed to an Ashdown 8x10 bass cab, which I felt was not very meaty in the bottom end.

I couldn't seem to get the kind of sound I like on my other alembics which is a deep heavy, mellow sound with a crisp edge to the attack. I found the sound on the Elan to be either bassy but not, (dub reggae bassy), enough or very bright and crisp.

On my own mesa rig or thru the FX1,sf-2/QSC i can get the bass to give me anything I want.

Am experiencing the tendency of the Elan to be brighter and punchier in tone that the mahogany bodied basses.

I probably need to spend more time with the bass but I wondered if this is the nature of the all maple Elan bass.

Don't get me wrong I love it's different sound but it wasn't suited to what I was doing yesterday. Jazzyvee

If you ever get an opportunity to record some sound clips I'd LOVE to hear that double P setup with the all maple body of your Elan. I'd also be interested to hear your impressions of the differences tonally between the neck and bridge set (I'm assuming you have vol, filter, pan w/ those 3 knobs).

My PJ Elan is getting close to being completed and I find myself coming back to check all these Elan showcase threads as a way to tide me over.

Spoke too soon, the neck seems to have moved again and the truss rods nuts are loose again and strings buzzing and choking. Even raising the bridge and nut didn't get rid of it till the strings were too high off the fretboard for sensible use.

I called Alembic this afternoon and Mary put me through to James in setup and he suggested some heavier gauge strings as a first option to put more tension in the neck and if that doesn't work i may need to send it in for a heat bend on the neck.....!!!!!

Any string recommendations? FC, you have some Elans, do you have any neck issues with yours and what brand and gauge of strings do you use?

One Elan right here and one Elan that will hopefully be finished at the end of this week (...) :-) I mainly use R.Cocco strings and prefer the RC 4H set (50, 70, 80, 110) No serious neck issues here, I only did a few slight adjustments due to the change of climate. (on all basses)

thanks FC I found a shop selling R.Cocco's and bought a set of 45's It's moved the neck significantly and now I have some adjustment both ways. I've adjusted it and will leave it for a day and check back to see if it has settled down then make some final amendments if needed.

JV, it's amazing the difference in tension between different sets of strings. On my Elan Five I've always used Markley NPS Roundcore Nickels (the Rocco Prestia strings). Last change, I put on D'Addario stainless XL's and had to chase the action for several days before I could put it back to where it was with the NPS strings.

So NEXT time, I'm going back to the NPS strings and leave well enough alone.

I tried the strings on the bass at rehearsal today and the heavier gauge and them being new sounded great. Very meaty and not as thin as the previous gauge. However I do feel they are a bit abrasive to the touch so I could feel some resistance to sliding my fingers on them and also that made the finger noise too much for my liking. Hopefully they will wear in soon.

Thought I'd give you my setup numbers (bear in mind this is a low action, set up for a fairly normal guage-size string set). Get your capo, your feeler guages, and your ruler, and make sure you're tuned to pitch.

-clearance (unfretted) over the first fret, the same for the G side and the B or E side: .025 inch / .635mm

-neck relief (capo the first fret and hold the string against the nearest fret where the neck meets the body, roughly the 21st fret on most Alembics): .010 inch / .254mm

This is pretty low, and a very flat fingerboard feel. Any lower and for me it will rattle with a pick or if I get heavy-fingered. Actually inspired by an interview I read with Anthony Jackson discussing his setup (he's VERY particular) where he liked to run his nut a bit higher than most. My two Alembics are both long scale, classic taper fives, with the same strings, so they are set up exactly the same.

As always, there is no setup that's perfect for everyone, but it's important to be able to express your own setup in numbers. Then you can aim to get any and all of your axes to the same feel. If this does not work for you, at least these numbers can serve as a beginning to work up your own uniquely personal number set. As always, remember how many turns you made on the nut, bridge, and truss rod, so you can get back to where you were if need be !

Best of luck, and I just love that purple axe. Here's to Alembics in color!

Pickup adjustment is also subjective pending on the tone you hear, but I always start with Precision style pickups adjusted equally. After your setup is done, measure the distance from the top of the pickup shell on each end to the string directly above it. You'll end up with the two halves forming a shallow V shape, higher in the middle, to match the curve of the strings on their bridge saddles. This is your starting point. E or A string(s) boomy relative to the D and G? Lower that side. G sound a little thin? Raise that side of that shell, etc. After this is done, then raise or lower your pickups overall to fine tune your tone or gain. Of course this is better done with new strings.

A lot of times, especially with a used instument, you'll find P-pickups adjusted flat across both halves, which can leave you a little short on articulation or may make one string boomier than another.

I will give both those suggestions a try when I next sit down with the bass and have some time. The action has settled down but I still think it could be a bit lower. And the pickup stuff Joey rings home because the balance is definitely in need of adjustment.

Jazzy, that is one sweet bass.You know,I've never been a fan of color, favoring natural finishes.However,after seeing the Elans in the showcase,I've quickly changed my way of thinking.I noticed this bass first (I looove quilted maple)and its rich color.This bass and others like it opened my eyes.As a matter of fact,I think Elans are the best Alembic bodies for color finish.The naturals are beautiful too,but color really suits them IMO.I love my red flame maple.It's a rich cherry red.BTW,what kind of music are you into?I've some idea from your threads you have a full plate.I wish I had more time to play in a band (I'm in sales-60 to 70 hrs some weeks).I'm just itching to play some blues infused funk/raggae/ska etc with some fusion swirled in =).

Thanks Wishbass, first time I saw this purple bass for sale I let it go because I wasn't keen on coloured alembics. However I regretted it and when the purchaser, a forum member, put it up for sale again, I wasn't so stupid second time around. It's a great bass and the Europa electronics help to tame that brightness that maple has. Most of the music I play on bass is more Jazz-funk and rnb and an occasional straight ahead jazz gig. I don't do that many gigs these days but always hoping my fortune will change in that matter.

I'm really a guitarist but my bass is in my bones so I straddle both camps.

That bass is awesome! I read a bit about it and it seems to me like these basses are best in the 4 string persuasion. I've had issues with mine (a 5er) sounding thin with a B string. Maybe it's the pickups???? Anyway I think the color is sweet so congrats to whoever this is going to.

Not sure what pickups you have on your bass but mine the P-type and the method of holding the pickup in place uses springs and a screw unlike my other alembic basses. I tend to play with my thumb on the neck pickup edge when playing a 4 string bass so on this bass this can cause that pickup to move closer to the body against the spring so increasing the distance between the pickup and the string which reduces the output of the E string. Then the edge of the screw hole can get caught on the screw and not always return to its original position. This i have found is the cause of the "thinner sound" on the E string this bass sometimes.

Wookie, believe it or not I ordered the 6 string from Alembic in that color(with a narrow neck). I've never regretted it. I love that thing. It is an old friend. However it gets very heavy after a while and sometimes it is nice to just have four strings to bang on

I think purple is an awesome color for an instrument. I've had only 1 but I wish I didn't get rid of it. The way my mind works is you have to make "sets" with basses. Not neccessarily the same color but my OCD tells me I need 4,5,and6 string versions of a model, but I was thinking if you could have the same color (as in this case) it'd be even better i'd offer my Élan 5 but it's red and has p j pups. Btw any advice on switching out the Alembic pups for dare I say EMG! I love my élan but I've never liked the sound on the B string. I've complained on the FAQ section and I havent played since I posted there and it's still in the shop with 4 strings on it. That's all an aside.... A Martin, you need this bass!

Wookie, I've not liked my low b string for many a year and avoided it. Recently I got fed up with it and applied my ocd to it. Originally I thought it was a combination of timbre and frett buzz in the open position that kept me from playing it. After recently spending time over a couple of days fiddling with the adjustments and getting a file out, the buzz disappeared (I still need to be wary of how much force I apply when energzing the string). The timbre was fine once the buzz cleared up. I actually dig the low B now. I feel a little silly not having done it 20 years ago, but maybe I have more patience then when I was young. The other thing I would suggest is looking at your speakers. The low B is below the frequency response of a lot of speakers. As for pick ups, I don't have any suggestions. I'm really not in the pickup loop.

Wookie, I will revise my previous statement. The bass sounded great for several days but after a major temperature drop outside (which probably affected humidty inside) the bass was all a buzz. My attempt to then adjust the truss rods led to a snapped truss rod under the DGC strings Fortunately I have already contacted Mary at Alembic (who was helpful and sympathetic ). We have game plan and I am sending my Elan back to its maker to be fixed. Hopefully it will come back even better then before.

Just realised my bass is 25 years old this year and is the oldest alembic I own but not the one I've owned the longest. Still looks and plays superb. How old does an instrument need to be for it to be classed as vintage?

Fortunately the age of alembics are easy to determine if you have the serial number so I was under no illusions of the age of mine when I got it. Whilst it does not look new, it does not look it's age and certainly has not lost it's singing voice. In fact I was practicing with it last night at home after lowering the action a bit more.

Mario raises an interesting question. Of course one would need to keep in mind that "vintage," as least as it is typically applied in the English language, typically assumes that one is referring to something of high quality. As in...while one might refer to a "vintage" Alembic as a guitar or bass that is 20, 25, or 30 years of age, one would probably not refer to a cheap $100 bass as vintage regardless of age.

Question is...would this not also apply to establishing whether a living organism, including a human being, meets the criteria for being "vintage."

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